Breath Taking
by HaruhiNekoKun
Summary: Goku has a run in with a demon and has his 'breath stolen' by a demon with a mirror. He won't die for a month, unable to breathe. Gojyo, Hakkai, and Sanzo must find the demon and destroy the mirror or lose Goku. Will they make it on time?
1. Chapter 1

Blah blah blah do not own…enjoy!

Breathtaking

The group had been on the road for two days now and were supposed to be reaching a town any minute now. "I'm huuuungry…," Goku was hanging his head off the back of the jeep. "Shut up you stupid monkey…," Gojyo nudged Goku's foot with his own in an attempt to keep going but he was out of cigarettes and he had no will to fight. "Come on you two we'll be there soon, just hang on a bit longer," Hakkai was always smiling and trying to keep the group together. Sanzo had nothing to say, he was irritable without his smokes and was attempting to not shoot anyone and it was succeeding, that was a first.

Later that evening after arriving in town, stuffing their faces, and retreating to their own separate rooms at the inn they had booked, things settled down. The four were asleep in no time, overjoyed to have a bed to stay in. Goku was snoring loudly as usual when he was abruptly awoken be the presence of a youkai. "Show yourself!" In one swift movement he was standing, Nyoi-bo in hand. Goku heard a rustle and turned to see…himself? It was a mirror, his reflection staring at him with the confusion he held on his face. He heard the voice of the youkai behind the mirror mumble a short chant. He watched as the reflection of himself warped into the most vial thing he had ever seen in his life. Goku felt his breath leaving him and fell to the ground, unable to tear his eyes away from the image in the mirror. The image vanished suddenly and Goku found himself unable to breathe entirely. The youkai stood over him with an amused smile. "One month without breathing and without dying, have fun," he laughed maliciously and retreated through the window.

Hakkai was first to wake as usual and went to the others' rooms to wake them. First Gojyo and then Sanzo but when he opened the door to Goku's room and found the bed empty he was very confused, Goku was by far the hardest to wake in the morning. He heard muffled noises coming from the bathroom and approached slowly. He opened the door to find Goku curled up on the floor in the corner, sputtering and almost coughing. "Goku what's wrong!" Hakkai wrapped his arms around Goku and lifted him with ease, running to the kitchen where Gojyo and Sanzo were sitting for breakfast. "Gojyo, Sanzo, somethings terribly wrong with Goku! I don't think he can breathe! We need to get him to a doctor _now_!" The two reacted quickly without questioning, finding out the location of the nearest doctor and jumping into the jeep.

They arrived at a small cottage-like house and burst in through the doors. The man they had been told was the doctor was sitting at a table and mixing some sort of medicine. "C-can I help you your sirs?" He was clearly startled. Hakkai lay Goku on the bed in the room and without hesitation said, "We need your help, something is terribly wrong with our friend and we need you to do something!" The man could see the desperation on Hakkai's face, he immediately stopped what he was doing and walked to the bed. After one glance he sighed and shook his head, "There is nothing I can do for him, this boy will die." The three of them looked absolutely horrified and Gojyo grabbed the doctor by the collar, "What do you mean he's going to die! There has to be _something_ you can do!" The man shook his head slowly and sighed again, "I've seen this many times before, your friend here is no different." Hakkai stepped in now and tried to be calm, "What is it then?"

"There is a powerful demon living in these parts, he has a mirror he uses to 'steal your breath' you don't die for a month though, you just suffer as if being strangled for a long, long time." This time Sanzo piped up, "Do you know where this bastard demon is?"

"No I'm afraid not, I've told you all I know, I'm so sorry for your loss," this is where Gojyo snapped and punched the man across the face. "Your sorry for our loss! You son of a bitch! He's not dead yet and he's not going to die! Ya' got that!" Gojyo was stopped by a weak hand tugging on his hair, he looked over to see Goku trying his best to smile but it was a failed attempt. His mouth was slightly dropped open and his free hand was clutching at the bed sheets in an attempt to control the horrific pain he was going through. All three of Goku's companions at that moment turned to the doctor and said, "He isn't dying!" Gojyo was the one to pick up Goku this time and the three of them left. "Time to go kill this goddamn demon! Hang on Goku," Gojyo smiled enthusiastically at Goku for encouragement as the team headed back to town to find the whereabouts of the demon. He was going down.

I edited the first chapter right after submitting the second…..I have way too much free time! :


	2. Chapter 2

I still own nothing! Thanks to you who read and commented! It means a lot to me!

The clock is ticking

The four of them searched the town picking up every bit of information they could. They learned the demons name was Akamou and that he lived in the mountain range to the South of the town. It was Sanzo's turn to carry Goku who was on his back, Goku's nails dug deep into Sanzo's shoulders making it hard not to throw the monkey off. Sanzo could hear Goku's strangles noises as he tried desperately to breathe. "You little shit, you better not die on me," Goku loosened his grip on Sanzo's shoulders and pressed his face into the back of his neck.

Hakkai and Gojyo met up with them at the fountain near the inn and headed towards the mountains. Where do ya' think this Akamou guy is? This mountain range is huge! How are we gonna find im'?" Sanzo spared him a venomous glare and turned back to the road, Gojyo saw this and realized that right now was probably a good time to shut up.

Several hours passed and there was no sign of Akamou, so they set up camp. Hakkai tried his best to help ease Goku's pain but there wasn't much he could do. The three of them stared at the fire with self loathing as there was nothing they could do. Goku was curled up in a ball and was digging at the dirt with desperation, the three others fell asleep with a giant and painful burden on their chests.

The next morning they got got up and without a single word put out the smoldering ashes of the fire and set off. Hakkai was to carry Goku today, a task they all loathed. Listening to Goku snoring loudly was annoying as hell, sure, but him _not _breathing at all was so much more horrific. Every few hours they would sit for a break and Hakkai would attempt to help Goku swallow some water and possibly food. The sun set and another night passed with no success, Goku's suffering continued.

Time passed in a torturously slow matter, until they had the time of a simple week left. Goku had become too weak to swallow a while back, so Hakkai took it upon himself to force water down Goku's parched throat. The sun rose on the second day of the final week and they departed immediately. "Gojyo, Sanzo you two go that way and I'll go this way, I need to keep an eye on Goku, holler if you find anything." The two nodded and rushed off to search. "Hang on Goku, we'll find him don't wory," Goku pat the side of Hakkai's face, his way of smiling, for he had long since lost the strength to do so. With this, Hakkai picked him up and headed off to look.

The sun was setting and Hakkai turned back towards camp but stopped as he heard something. He soon realized it was Sanzo and Gojyo. Hakkai ran as fast as he could towards the voices as they grew louder. He met up with the other two shortly, wide eyed and expectant. "Well? What is it!" Gojyo jumped at Hakkai's unusual tone of voice as Sanzo started talking. "We found some evidence of his being here, footprints and Gojyo can smell a demon." Hakkai examined the ground and smelled the fresh mountain air that had surrounded them for days, now tainted with the stink of demon. Hakkai nodded in agreement. "We need to hurry," Hakkai turned and started to walk in the direction of the smell where he was sure to find the owner when Gojyo stopped him. "Hakkai we need to rest, we _have _been searching all day, I think it's best we rest for the night and try to come up with a plan, he still has that mirror, he could do to us what he did to Goku, then it would be all over." Hakkai stayed quiet for a few minutes, giving Sanzo time to light up a cigarette. Hakkai finally nodded so Gojyo went to gather some makeshift firewood.

Hakkai rose early the next morning and looked at his fellow travelers. He allowed a small smile to cross his face as he saw all three of his companions peacefully sleeping. It took him a moment to realize what was wrong with this picture. Goku was asleep, he who had not slept since that night almost a month ago. Gojyo and Sanzo were abruptly awoken by Hakkai's frantic shouts. "Goku! Goku! Wake up Goku!" They immediately noticed what was wrong and rushed to Goku's side. Goku's eyes opened painfully as he looked up to the three horrified expressions of his companions staring at him in disbelief. Hakkai helped him to sit up and his expression turned to anguish as he realized how Goku was shaking with newly discovered pain, caused by being awoken from a painless sleep. Sanzo pulled Goku onto his back and they started off following Hakkai and Gojyo's strong noses. They all had the same mindset then. 'Don't worry Goku, we won't let you die!'

I'm evil aren't I? The idea for this story is actually a dream I had! This is my first fanfic so I have honestly no idea what I'm doing! Never stopped me though! I'll try my best, I hope you enjoy, my n00b skills and all their glory! :"


	3. Chapter 3

I got a head injury at a museum a few of days ago so sorry for the wait! This chapter is from Goku's POV and I'm going to try to make this a happier chapter….I don't own anything!

How does that make you feel?

Relief flooded through me when Hakkai walked into my room and found me on the bathroom floor. I wanted so badly to talk, to tell him what was wrong but my whole body felt like it was being torn apart. I was a sputtering, drooling mess, I felt helpless. When Hakkai brought me to the others I was surprised to see Sanzo actually gave a shit. After a while everything just when numb and I was able to deal with it, but I had no way to reassure the others that I would be fine as long as I didn't fall asleep.

I hated going to the doctor, he had nothing to say besides telling me I was going to die. Gojyo was getting pissed off like no other and I had to stop him somehow. I tugged on his hair, the only action I could perform normally and tried my best to smile. It wasn't that it hurt, it was the fact that I was causing them so much grief, I clenched the sheets with my free hand in absolute frustration at the fact that I couldn't even help them help me. We left the doctor with not much more hope than when we came in, but Gojyo's warm smile helped me to feel better about the situation.

Searching the town was frustrating, just a bunch of people saying the same things over and over again. I felt so tired and in a desperate attempt to stay awake I dug my nails deep into Sanzo's shoulders. "You little shit, you better not die on me," this was Sanzo's was of encouraging me, I realized I was probably hurting him and loosened my grip on his shoulders, choosing instead to snuggle my face into the back of his warm neck that reeked comfortingly of cigarette smoke.

The travel through the mountain range was terrible. Each passing day brought on an even stronger urge to sleep. 'I gotta fight it…'

Hakkai tried to feed me, keep me hydrated, but I was getting weaker and weaker, I even lost the ability to swallow eventually. I watched the sun rise and fall many times, trying to find some sort of power within me, to make me not quite as useless. It seemed that there just wasn't anything left, I was entirely dependant on my friends.

Hakkai continued to shower me with encouraging words, it seemed the purpose was mostly to keep himself hopeful but it appeared to be a failed attempt. I pat the side of Hakkai's face, hoping to help his spirit just a little bit, it appeared to work as Hakkai picked me up and hurried to continue our search.

The relief from finding the whereabouts of the demon was so great I could feel it flooding through Hakkai's veins. I was fine with waiting one more night, I could stand a little more pain if it meant the wellbeing of my companions.

I don't remember falling asleep, I guess the fact that my friends were resting peacefully for once made me content enough to lose my battle. I just didn't expect to be awoken to brutally. "Goku! Goku! Wake up Goku!" For the first time I had the urge to punch Hakkai in the face but that thought was lost as the pain surged through me, tight, tearing, and burning, like a poison running through my veins. The pain had a renewed ferocity and sent icy chills of fire through every cell of my body. I wanted to scream, claw at my throught, cut it open to release the pressure, but held back. The pain would be over soon, I had to endure.

Hakkai picked me up and we set off as I continued to chant in my mind over and over again, 'The pain will be over soon, this will just be a memory in a couple of days' and even though it hurt, I had no tears to drop, they had long since dried up, along with the rest of my body. Limp and weak I continued to be carried towards my 'Murderer'.

I could have kept going but this is where I ended the last chapter…argh! I'm going camping but I'll be back in a few days! Can't wait to continue! I got some good ideas, I think I'll be ending it in one or two chapters unless I feel like adding, I think I'm going to go for overkill though! Sound good? Till next time!


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